If it wasn’t for Professor Ingrid Mertig, Nobel laureate Albert Fert would not be visiting the Weinberg Campus as often as he does. And perhaps Humboldt Professor Stuart Parkin wouldn’t have decided to come to the University. Mertig has been teaching and conducting research at Martin Luther University for the past 15 years as a professor of quantum theory of the solid state. Here she has built up the key research area “nanostructured materials”, which she has decisively shaped over the years as the spokesperson for the collaborative research centre (CRC) “Functionality of Oxidic Interfaces”. Read more

Humboldt Professor Tiffany Knight studies the changes of ecosystems over long periods of time and the effects that a loss of biodiversity may have on the ecosystem. In February 2016, the affiliation of the renowned US-scientist changed from the Midwestern US to Central Germany. She is now working at the German Center of Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig. Read more

Hans-Dietrich Genscher began his law studies at the University of Halle in 1946. Until his death in late March 2016, the former German foreign minister and famous son of Halle maintained a close relationship with his alma mater. He was particularly active on behalf of the university in the years after German Reunification in 1990. The rector at the time, Professor Günther Schilling, reminisces about an extraordinary politician and his achievements on behalf of the university. Read more

The data of the oldest German collection of biographical interviews recorded on audio tape was believed to have gone missing years ago. Now it is stored at MLU. The transfer was facilitated by a Humboldt Research Award winner, Prof. Christina von Hodenberg, who is originally from Queen Mary University London and currently working in Halle. Read more